---
title: Proverbs 16:16 (JPS 1917) — How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! yea, to get understan… · tree and pragmatics
description: How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! yea, to get understanding is rather to be chosen than silver. Proverbs 16:16 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Proverbs 16:16 · JPS 1917

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How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! yea, to get understanding is rather to be chosen than silver.

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**What happens:** be, get · **To what, where:** wisdom, understanding

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This is Proverbs 16:16 · JPS 1917 in the English of the Jewish Publication Society's 1917 translation, from Mova's open Bible corpus. The page gives the sentence's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, parsed by Mova and checked by a teacher model — and its pragmatics clause by clause: what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it. The original of the verse links back to its own tree and to the Targum.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = jps:PRO:459
# text = How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! yea, to get understanding is rather to be chosen than silver.
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	much	much	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	expl	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	csubj	_	_
8	wisdom	wisdom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	than	than	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	gold	gold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
12	yea	yea	INTJ	UH	_	21	discourse	_	_
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	csubj	_	_
16	understanding	understanding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
18	rather	rather	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	21	mark	_	_
20	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	aux:pass	_	_
21	chosen	choose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
22	than	than	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	silver	silver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: evaluate
- voice: narrator
- polarity: pos
- teacher: changed act=evaluate, polarity=pos

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | to-infinitive |  | wisdom |  |  |  | than gold | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer wisdom=Stimulus |
| 3 | **get** | to-infinitive |  | understanding |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer understanding=Stimulus |
| 4 | **is** | present · passive |  |  |  |  |  | than silver; choose *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The Hebrew of this verse {#hebrew}

<!-- .vhe dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
קְֽנֹה־חָכְמָ֗ה מַה־טּ֥וֹב מֵחָר֑וּץ וּקְנ֥וֹת בִּ֝ינָ֗ה נִבְחָ֥ר מִכָּֽסֶף׃

[Proverbs 16:16: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and the Targum →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.16.16/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:PRO:459` of Mova's parse database.

**The tree and the speech act** come from Mova's cycle: the small model's draft, read by a large model as teacher, passed by Mova's gates (Elamur Cosmic License). **The frames** are read from the tree by Mova's frames reader (`prag`) when this page is built, the chapter read in order, so a pronoun may be resolved from an earlier sentence of the chapter.

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- ← previous: [Proverbs 16:15 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PRO.458/)
- next →: [Proverbs 16:17 (JPS)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PRO.460/)
- ↑ back to [Proverbs 16:16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.16.16/)